Ulster Hold Off Fast-Finishing Sharks To Earn Home Quarter-Final

Ulster have a home United Rugby Championship quarter-final to look forward to after defeating the Cell C Sharks 24-21 at Kingspan Stadium.

Dan McFarland’s men were the better team for the first 65 minutes, with captain Iain Henderson, player-of-the-match Nick Timoney and Stuart McCloskey all playing leading roles.

Billy Burns and Ethan McIlroy deftly created Michael Lowry’s 26th-minute try which, on top of a John Cooney penalty, gave Ulster a 10-0 half-time lead.

McCloskey swatted away two tackles to score early in the second half and an excellent team effort, finished off by James Hume, cancelled out a close range try from Sharks replacement Ntuthuko Mchunu.

Ulster had hopes of pushing on for the bonus point at 24-7, but the South Africans made it a nervy finish thanks to late tries from Marius Louw and lively replacement Grant Williams.

It was a little too close for comfort in the end. Following Saturday’s games, Ulster ended up finishing third overall with a mouth-watering quarter-final clash with provincial rivals Munster to come in two weeks’ time.

The Sharks’ first attacking opportunity inside the Ulster 22 broke down, McCloskey tidying up a loose ball and full-back Lowry breathing a sigh of relief having conceded the initial lineout.

Flanker Timoney, who carried well off an early scrum, popped up with an important turnover penalty to thwart a Sharks surge. The visitors returned fire to halt a promising break from deep involving McCloskey and Hume.

Burns’ right boot became more influential in the wet conditions as he went close to linking up with McIlroy near the left touchline. He followed up with a well-judged touchfinder out to the right.

Ulster ended the opening quarter with a 3-0 lead, Henderson harassing Jaden Hendrikse into a handling error and Ox Nche was caught offside. Cooney mopped up with the three points from straight in front.

The Ulstermen were unable to profit from Aphelele Fassi’s error in leaking a lineout in his own 22. Rob Herring spun off the resulting maul but a Burns knock-on allowed the Sharks to kick clear a couple of phases later.

Curwin Bosch’s tackling of Robert Baloucoune in the air invited Ulster forward, and a further penalty plunged the Sharks back to within five metres of their own try-line.

The South Africans’ maul defence prevented a try but when Burns spun the ball wide, McIlroy stepped inside Werner Kok’s challenge and slipped a beautiful offload away for Lowry to score. Cooney converted with aplomb from out wide.

Fassi caught the eye with some sharp attacking play, both in the air and with ball in hand. Worryingly for Ulster, two tackles on the Sharks full-back saw Hume go off temporarily for a HIA and Lowry left permanently.

Out-half Bosch pushed a long range penalty wide in the 35th minute and although the Sharks continued to build some pressure, Timoney claimed a hard-earned penalty at the breakdown just before the interval.

Henderson was to the fore on the restart, helping Ulster earn turnover ball before Burns made a break and had a footrace with Fassi. The Ulster skipper collected the drop out and was soon involved in the build-up to McCloskey’s brilliant score.

Lovely hands from Tom O’Toole and Henderson invited the big centre through a gap and he shrugged off both Louw and Fassi to power in underneath the posts. Cooney converted for a 17-point lead.

The Sharks, who also have a quarter-final place, responded by battering away through a mammoth set of phases. They opted for scrums right in front of the Ulster points, yet the home defence stood firm and eventually forced a knock-on.

The breakthrough came for Sean Everitt’s side when Thomas du Toit closed down Cooney from a kick, Ulster leaked a penalty and the quick tap allowed the freshly-introduced Mchunu to crash over.

Barely two minutes later, Burns crisply released Baloucoune from halfway, the winger linking inside with Cooney who drew in a defender and fed the supporting Hume to go over untouched.

Cooney’s conversion restored the 17-point advantage, but the Sharks’ pacy backs were beginning to exploit some gaps as the home defence finally showed some signs of tiring.

Matthew Rea got the decision at the breakdown to foil a dangerous break from Makazole Mapimpi, following the lead of Cooney who tackled replacement Sikhumbuzo Notshe to stall the Sharks at the edge of the Ulster 22.

Nippy scrum half Williams really came into his own, using the platform of a lineout to cut open the Ulster defence from 40 metres out and he had Louw up in support to touch down to the left of the posts.

Another seven-pointer swiftly followed in the 79th minute, Williams’ clever kick over the top from inside the Sharks’ 22 finding Louw and his return pass sent Williams scampering clear from 70 metres out.

Replacement Boeta Chamberlain’s second conversion made it a three-point game, but Ulster were not to be denied as they handed the Sharks their first defeat in four matches since March.

Giving his reaction afterwards, Ulster head coach McFarland said: “We had a job to do to get a home quarter-final, it was us or them. We did the job and I thought for a big chunk of that game we controlled it.

“They showed a bit of brilliance at the end and got back within touching distance, which is a place we found ourselves in earlier in the season (against Clermont), it wasn’t very comfortable for a few minutes. Apart from that I was very pleased.

“They offer a big physical threat but also on a speed and the ability to beat people sense. Their back-three is outstanding. (Makazole) Mapimpi and Lukhanyo Am, they’ve got two of the best players in the world there.

“Aphelele Fassi at full-back is unbelievable at beating defenders. It’s very difficult to keep them under control, and I though we did a really good job there.

“We created a lot tonight. In those first 20 minutes our skill let us down but if we were on point to the level we should have been on, to be honest, we should have been even more comfortable than we were.

“Some of our defensive sets that were called on in the second half, from the 50-minute mark to the 60-minute mark, I thought were outstanding.”